Planners deal setback to lime rock mining proposal

Marion County's growth advisers have for now rejected some landowners' idea of establishing a lime rock mining zone in the community's main farming belt.

By Bill ThompsonStaff writer

Marion County's growth advisers have for now rejected some landowners' idea of establishing a lime rock mining zone in the community's main farming belt.The Planning Commission decided Tuesday that it did not have enough time to fully evaluate the proposal.The Planning Commission's decision now kicks the proposal to the County Commission, which is expected to vote tonight on whether to ship the proposal to state planners in Tallahassee for a verdict.The advisory panel recommended against forwarding a plan for a Mineral Resources Overlay Zone to state planners after hearing a presentation by Ocala lawyer Steve Gray.Gray represents a group of property owners who have pooled 2,500 acres within the county's Farmland Preservation Area for use as quarries. Those parcels are situated just west of County Road 329, with the key one fronting County Road 318 to the south.The purpose, according to Gray, would be to cordon off part of a sparsely populated area where new mining companies could be directed to set up shop - thus sparing companies, the community and the County Commission the expense and headache of a protracted, emotional brawl.Designating such a zone, however, would not mean automatic approval for new mining projects. Specific proposals to open a quarry in that area would still face vetting by county officials.Gray first approached the commission with the concept late last Thursday at the conclusion of the board's initial hearings on changes to the county's comprehensive land-use plan, or comp plan.On Tuesday, Gray asked that the Planning Commission adopt language creating the overlay zone as well as outlining the boundary of the zone on the county's map of future land-uses.The distinction is that the plan's text describes what land uses happen on the ground, while the map illustrates where those are supposed to go.The Planning Commission turned down both aspects of Gray's request, indicating that the timing precluded the concept from getting the full consideration it warranted, county Growth Management Department Director Jimmy Massey said Wednesday.Staff planners, Massey added, did not back the proposal for the same reason.Massey said he would "probably" reiterate that recommendation to the County Commission tonight.The County Commission's decision would affect more than the project being offered now.According to a letter Gray sent the board last week, another landowner about 10 miles west of the site is interested in establishing an additional mining overlay zone that could run up to 4,000 acres.The Farmland Preservation Area stretches westward from County Road 200A, or Northeastern Jacksonville Road, just east of U.S. 441, to the Levy County line and southward from the Alachua County border to the State Road 200 corridor.It was created to ensure that much of rural Marion County, especially the part that gave rise to the thoroughbred industry, remains rural. It does so by restricting more intense development, especially residential projects.Despite the designation, several active and inactive lime rock mines exist in that area now.Contact Bill Thompson at bill.thompson@starbanner.com or 867-4117.

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